| The purpose of the study was to examine the nature of interpersonal trust in organizations as a psychological construct. Interpersonal trust was conceptually defined as the extent of an individual's reliance on another person under conditions of dependence and risk. This definition integrated the work of previous trust researchers and focused on trust as a behavior.; An extended version of Fishbein and Ajzen's "theory of reasoned action" was used as the theoretical foundation for a conceptual model (i.e., nomological network) of trust. The model identified the following independent variables hypothesized to affect trusting behavior: an individual's attitude toward trusting another person, the subjective norms for trusting, and the consequences of past trust in that person. The Fishbein and Ajzen attitude model was supplemented with the concept of instrumentality.; The model was tested on a sample of management boundary spanners (public school district superintendents) and on a second sample of labor boundary spanners (presidents of local teachers' unions). The primary data for the study came from mail surveys from 305 superintendents and 289 presidents.; Factor analyses of survey items measuring intentions to engage in trusting behavior (the primary dependent variable) confirmed the hypothesized multidimensional structure of trust. Ordinary least squares multiple regression showed that the consequences of past trust variable was the strongest predictor of intentions followed in importance by the attitudinal variable and subjective norms, respectively.; The expectations variable alone was a better predictor of intentions than Fishbein and Ajzen's two component attitude variable (expectations x valences) or the three component attitude variable (expectations x valences x instrumentalities). The perceived characteristics of the other boundary spanner, situational factors influencing him, uncertainty about his future behavior, and the degree to which the respondent had a trusting personality were shown to directly or indirectly predict the respondents' behavioral intentions. Additionally, positive consequences of past trust were shown to be associated with high levels of collaborative problem solving and low levels of hostility in work relationships among organizational boundary spanners.; Limitations of the study were discussed along with implications for further research relating to organizational behavior, industrial relations, and social psychology. |
